


Battlefield of Love

by Eiryia



Category: Winner (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gaming, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:49:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25448644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eiryia/pseuds/Eiryia
Summary: Jinwoo is an ordinary college student who spends his summer vacation playing games for a whole month. In the game he meets a character who always helps him in the battlefield and they decide to meet the day before summer vacation ends. When that day arrives Jinwoo is shocked to finally meet his online friend.Story based on a prompt submitted to the 2020 Winner FicFest.
Relationships: Kim Jinwoo/Song Minho | Mino
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: WINNER Spring/Summer Fic Fest 2020





	Battlefield of Love

Battlefield of Love

"That’s it!" Jinwoo announced, bubbling with joy. His last assignment of the semester had been submitted and he was officially done with school until autumn came to drag him back. 

Jinwoo already got this moment when he was finally done with every commitment to school work planned in detail: download the game client, install the game, tidy up his desk, head out for snacks, return, and then play video games all summer. 

"Four weeks of games, four weeks!" he said out loud, having arrived at the ‘ _get snacks’_ step of his plan. On the screen he checked that the game indeed was installing and then he was out. 

  
  


On his way to the shop he went over his shopping list: 

  * Soda, as much as he could carry
  * Easy meals for dinner 
  * Snacks, snacks, snacks
  * Espresso capsules for his machine
  * Toilet paper (Important! He was completely out!) 
  * An apple for his conscience because his mom would certainly ask if he was eating healthy. 



  
  


It was a sunny day and he made sure to enjoy it, although he had no plans to spend any significant amount of time in the sun this summer. His studies having taken all his time for months and months, he’d been itching to get back to gaming since uninstalling it back in autumn. 

Returning home half an hour later, he realized he’d forgotten toilet paper and had to go back, but it didn’t matter because then he could stock up on more snacks and he could tell his mother he’d worked out recently the next time she called. 

Usually he’d go home for the summer, but since it was only for a month and his family would be away for two of those weeks, he had decided to stick around his apartment. He’d recently quit his part time job too as he now was qualified for work related to his studies and he’d already been hired to start working in six weeks. 

His ducks were in a row, life was good and he was ready to play! 

Loading up the game, he heard the familiar sound of the loading screen and it gave him a feeling as cozy as if he’d just returned home. He had many games he liked, but World of Warcraft was definitely one of his favourites and it was his chosen one for how he would spend his summer. He played a druid tank, a big bear who took the beating for the rest of the group. He liked being the tank, it meant he was in charge and could protect his friends. 

Sadly most of his friends also quit the game because of school and one of his first missions would be to find a new guild and someone to play with. 

It had taken him most of the first week to bring his druid tank back up to speed with the rest of the players and when he entered the battleground at max level for the first time on Friday night he was practically beaming. His well geared big bear looked dashing. It was time to beat some horde! 

He’d always felt a sense of pride in fighting for the alliance, but they lost every round he signed up for. How in the world could they be this terrible? He’d made himself a late dinner while looking over battleground tactics on his phone. If he tried leading the group they might just do a tiny bit better. 

Seating himself in his chair after a quick dinner he tried to reset his expectations, this time they would win! 

Watching the countdown for the gates to open, he noticed a terribly flashy shaman bouncing around throwing healing spells everywhere. 

"Save your mana" he told him as the shaman turned into a wolf and back into a dwarf again. 

The shaman’s name was as ridiculous as his excessive bouncing and overhealing tendencies: "TheBiggestBoi" made no sense to him at all seeing as how he was just a puny dwarf. 

As soon as the gates were open, they headed out to the battleground. They were aiming to steal the opponents flag to bring it back to their base. Being a tank, Jinwoo could take a beating and being a druid he could move fast and stealthily. The shaman whose role was of a healer seemed to know this and tagged along keeping him alive across the battleground. 

Before they knew it, they were in the enemy base. He grabbed the flag and they were off! A thrill of excitement hit him as they bolted across the field back to base, his wolfboi sidekick hurrying along diligently. 

They kept at it like that, snatching the flag and bringing it back until they’d won the battle. 

Finally feeling the joy of victory, Jinwoo twirled in his chair and stretched his arms up to celebrate. Maybe that silly dwarf wasn’t so bad after all. 

Wanting to keep up momentum, he signed up for another battleground and to his surprise, the bouncing wolf shaman was in his group yet again. He gave the shaman a wave and received one in return seconds later. 

They teamed up yet again, this time protecting a lumber mill on a high rise against invading enemies. A priest had joined them and together the three sent horde player after horde player off the cliff causing him to cackle with joy. 

It had been an easy victory and when the battleground was over, he did another small cheer. 

It was during his little victory celebration that he noticed a pink text popping up on the corner of his screen. The shaman was writing to him. 

"I noticed we play on the same server and I’ve recently started a guild, want to join?", it said. 

"Sure", he typed in return thinking he would play it casual although he was secretly over the moon to finally have joined a guild. 

A minute later he was being welcomed to the guild by a bunch of strangers all with eccentric names almost as bad as TheBiggestBoi himself. An hour later he’d joined their discord server as well, which he at the beginning was wondering if he would regret because it was as if he’d entered a hen house with all the squabbling going on. 

The guild leader shaman wolf man had introduced himself as Mino first and the other followed. He also found out that this Mino was from the same country as him. He’d wanted to ask which city, but got interrupted by some rowdy gnome yelling about the lack of tanks in the guild. 

He’d then gone on to explain about himself and his backstory as an enthusiastic tank and they’d all rejoiced, Mino included. 

"Now we can raid!" the gnome had exclaimed and the rest of the guild had rejoiced. He knew raiding was a group activity to take down bosses in a dungeon, compared to going after other players in the battleground which was his favorite pastime. He didn’t have the heart to tell them that he preferred player vs player stuff and so the next night he found himself meeting up the rest of the guild for his first raid. 

Mino who was his usual chatty self turned into an instruction bot yelling commands at everyone and Jinwoo was honestly quite impressed at how he led everyone. After a while, he got to know Mino’s second in command: another healer who in real life was called Seungyoon. He took over leading them through a few more fights. The sassy gnome had turned out to be a guy named Seunghoon who did amazing damage while cracking the most ridiculous jokes causing Seungyoon to shush him nonstop. 

In the end they had met a wall at the fourth boss, partially failing because Jinwoo didn’t know the tactics. He apologized profusely to the group afterwards but they all reassured him that they were just happy to have him tag along. 

It was pretty late and more and more people were calling it a night until only him, Seungyoon, Seunghoon and Mino left. It was during their early morning chat he found out they all lived in the same city and that the two Seungs actually lived together as roommates. 

Amazed at this, he stayed up until the sun had risen again chatting away with them. They were a really fun crowd and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a great time chatting with someone online. 

As Jinwoo rolled into bed, a wide smile had glued itself so hard to his face that his cheeks hurt. Mino’s praise especially had stuck with him and he fell asleep with Mino and his new friends stuck in his mind as a fond gif dancing before his eyes. 

Over the next couple of weeks he joined his guild for every raid night. They’d also started doing rated battleground together after he’d told them it was his favorite part of the game. He and Mino stuck together as glue and it usually led them to victory. 

It was during a _D_ _runken Timewalking Dungeon_ that the subject of meeting up had come up and when he admitted to probably having to quit once his vacation was over, it had been decided. 

The four of them would meet that coming Friday, his last day before going back to life of obligation. It felt nice to say a proper goodbye, although he wondered if he’d even be able to as they’d already become such good friends. 

On Thursday night they received the bad news that one of the two Seungs’ dogs had become sick and that they wouldn’t be coming to their meetup the following day. Mino was still up to it though and Jinwoo was still looking forward to meeting the puny dwarf who had made his summer infinitely better. 

That morning he’d even gone for a haircut and bought a new shirt wondering why he cared so much what he looked like. It was just a meeting with a friend, but he’d always thought first impressions were important. 

Now it was time for their late lunch together and Jinwoo was a lot more nervous than he’d like to admit. All he knew was Mino’s voice, a deep voice which he had somehow grown quite fond of over the past few weeks. 

They’d agreed to pick the window seat if it was free, so as to easily spot the other one. As the shop was almost empty, he had placed his order and taken a seat by the window. Sipping on his iced coffee, he eyed every person entering the shop curiously, but no one seemed to fit the bill and he was starting to wonder if he’d been stood up. 

It was then that he felt a tap on his shoulder. Was Mino already there? Turning in his seat, he saw a tall dark haired man in a loose t-shirt and an unbuttoned shirt with rolled up sleeves, holding out a tattooed hand towards him. Blinking, confused, looking up at the man, he took the hand. 

"Song Mino" the man said as Jinwoo got up and shook his hand. 

"Kim Jinwoo" he replied, still feeling confused. It wasn’t that he’d expected a shaman dwarf to walk in, but this guy was certainly not what he’d been expecting either. 

Gesturing for Mino to take a seat opposite him, he swallowed hard, trying to think of something to say. 

"You're taller than I expected," he said jokingly, making Mino chuckle. 

"You're not saying," Mino replied, sipping on his iced americano. 

"No beard either" he added, humming in amusement himself. 

"Sorry to disappoint you," Mino replied, stroking his non-existent beard, while grinning. 

They both laughed at this and Jinwoo instantly felt himself relaxing. It was the Mino he’d grown to know over the past few weeks after all. They chatted about the game for a long time before moving on to talk about themselves. Mino was a musician who was currently on a bit of a hiatus after getting sick from overworking. 

"Who needs therapy when we have that game" Mino mused and he had to agree. School had been seriously stressing him out towards the end there, but now he felt like his worries had lifted and along with it, his mood. 

"You know-", Mino began, leaning forward across the table. 

"Hm?", he replied wondering what kind of silly thing Mino would say next. 

"You're not quite what I expected either", he finally said after a way too long break sipping his coffee. 

"In what way?" he asked, wondering exactly what Mino had been expecting. 

"You are a lot more beautiful," Mino said, giving him a small wink. 

Was he hitting on him? Jinwoo had never mentioned he was gay, but Mino might just be messing with him anyway. His appearance did occasionally attract comments like that from men who compared his looks to the beauty normally found in women. 

"Doesn’t take much to be more beautiful than a big furry in-game beast", he replied, deciding to joke away the matter. 

Mino just smiled at this, but he didn’t take his eyes off him which kinda made him think Mino had been telling the truth. Instead, they moved on to the subject of him quitting the game. 

He explained that he was going back to school full time the coming week, along with going back to work. Mino had sighed at this. 

"You don’t think you can make it to just one Sunday raid night a week? We’ll really miss you" Mino begged, putting up a rather cute expression in the process. 

"Surely you can find someone else", he replied knowing how busy he would be, but he was also well aware of how badly he wanted to stay. 

"It’s an easy way to socialize" Mino began looking at him intently. "You don’t even have to go out of your house". Mino was arching an eyebrow at him now, leaning across the table so close that he could feel his hot breath on his skin and smell the faint smell of his perfume. 

"Who taught you to be this convincing?" he asked, swallowing hard, suddenly becoming hyper aware of himself and how close they were. He felt his nose itch, but didn’t dare to scratch it fearing he’d brush Mino’s face accidentally if he tried.

Mino just smiled innocently before going back to sipping on his coffee. 

He managed to change the subject by chatting about the two Seungs, but it didn’t take Mino long to reel him back in to ask him for his answer. 

"Okay then" he finally said, making Mino clap excitedly, eyes twinkling like a baby seal receiving his long awaited meal.

"Thank you", Mino replied cheerfully, grabbing his hand for a moment and Jinwoo wasn't sure if it was static or something else, but he got really startled by Mino’s touch. 

Mino must have noticed because he smiled a small smile before suggesting they head out into the sun as they both probably needed the vitamin D after playing indoors all summer. 

They got up from their seats and he headed first for the door with Mino following closely behind him.

As they walked, he went on to ask Mino about why he’d picked out his in-game name as something so silly. 

"You think it’s silly?" Mino had scoffed, pretending to be offended. "My early days rapper name used to be hugeboy" he added casually, without any further explanation causing Jinwoo's mind to wander. 

"Don’t get any ideas," Mino laughed, probably reading his facial expression a bit too well. 

Now it was Jinwoo’s turn to laugh, feeling slightly embarrassed and extremely self aware. Mino had proceeded to ask about his in-game name which was Thaleis which he’d explained was inspired by one of the Greek muses. For some reason Mino was familiar with the subject and they’d gone on to discuss Greek myths and legends. 

Walking in the hot sun with Mino at his side, he felt almost regretful that he’d not been outside more during the summer. Autumn would be here soon and with it, the autumn rain. 

Despite the quaint and cheerful street they were walking on, he couldn’t manage to take his eyes off Mino for more than a couple of minutes at a time. There was something so magnetic about him, his confident yet casual way of walking, his dark thoughtful eyes... Jinwoo forced himself to snap out of it as they approached a gelato place and he suddenly became aware of the fact that they were getting closer and closer to his own home street. 

Mino suggested that they buy some ice cream and he agreed. 

Even though walking in the sun had been nice, sitting in the shade with ice cream and good company was even better. He found that he and Mino got just as much to talk about meeting face to face as they did during games and only a couple of subjects were gaming related. 

They were half way through their ice creams when a couple of doves swooped down before them, startling him so badly he dropped his ice cream. Mino, who seemed to be acting on reflex, attempted to catch it, only for it to land sluggishly on top of his arm and proceed to slide down onto his pants. 

They both looked at the ice cream and then each other and laughed. 

"What am I going to do now?" Mino said, still humming with laughter. He’d messily been hurrying to finish his own ice cream creating an even bigger mess. 

"Well, honestly I don’t think paper towels would do much for you. It’s everywhere. Even on your face" he replied, trying not to laugh at the mess Mino had made. 

"Where?" Mino said rubbing at his face with his hand only to smear it out further. 

"God, look at you" he whispered to himself, leaning closer to wipe away the chocolate chip pieces from Mino’s cheek. 

Just then, the doves began squabbling for the cracker part of his ice cream, startling them both. 

When he turned his attention back to Mino, his hand was still hanging mid air, Mino was staring at his hand and not the doves. Swallowing hard, he tried to ignore the swelling embarrassment in his chest and instead focused on his hand and the ice cream splatter on his friend's face. 

Using his thumb to wipe away the ice cream from Mino’s chin, he watched Mino’s slightly dazed expression turn into a somewhat smug smile. 

"What?" he asked, still staring at Mino’s face trying to figure out what his expression was for. Absentmindedly he’d licked the ice cream off his thumb. 

Mino’s smile grew even wider then. 

"What?", did he have ice cream on him too?, he wondered. In a stroke of madness he decided on what to do to wipe that smug smile off Mino’s face at record speed: 

Placing his hand on Mino’s ice creamed smeared thigh he leaned in for a quick kiss, not his usual way of letting new acquaintances know he was gay, but definitely an effective one. 

***

Mino walked a few steps behind Jinwoo in the afternoon sunshine. Since laying eyes on him in the coffee shop and till now he had been blown away by how attractive he found Jinwoo to be. Those sparkling big eyes looking intently at him, those wide smiles and now, walking slightly behind him on the sidewalk.. that ass. 

Just thinking it made him want to pull at his own hair in frustration, but that was probably not a good idea since he got ice cream everywhere. 

Thanks to the ice cream,he had somehow managed to land himself a kiss from Jinwoo which had upped the "blown away" state of mind he was in, to a whole new level. When Jinwoo had suggested they should keep walking he’d happily tagged along and when he asked where they were going, Jinwoo had simply said: 

"My place" 

The words were still ringing in his ears like some cheerful summer tune. He was curious about Jinwoo’s computer setup, but now he had something much bigger to figure out. Was Jinwoo into guys too? Or was the kiss just to mess with him? He personally felt it was probably both. 

Now he just needed to build up the courage to ask, because he couldn’t let their meeting end before he got some answers. Some really important answers. 

***

Jinwoo wasn't sure what had gotten into him. Kissing Mino and now bringing him home to let him borrow his clothes? 

Well, there they were, in front of his apartment door. Would his clothes even fit Mino? He didn’t even think about that back when he had suggested it. Mino was definitely taller than him, and broader too, but only a bit. 

"Sorry about the mess, I haven’t had anyone over all summer" he began giving excuses as he walked in the door. Mino followed after him, closing the door behind them. "I’m not sure my clothes will fit you" he began as he walked across the small living room towards his bedroom. 

Mino was already undressing behind him making his heart beat a lot faster than he would have preferred it to. 

"Gosh, calm down already" he mumbled to himself, practically hearing his own pulse in his ears now. He was fairly certain he was blushing too. 

He pulled out a t-shirt made to be oversized and turned to hand it over to Mino before looking for pants. 

Mino seemed to have other plans however. He thanked him for the shirt and yet didn’t let go of his hand, pulling him along closer by the hand he was still holding the shirt in. 

"In the park earlier-" Mino began, looking directly down at him.

"Were. you. messing. with. me? Or?" Mino leaned in closer with each word he spoke.

Jinwoo never got the chance to reply, because the next word spoken was a low whisper, so close that their lips were touching. Deciding he didn’t have anything to lose by this point, he leaned into the gentle kiss Mino was bestowing onto his lips, deepening it considerably. 

"Or do I like you?" he said when they finally pulled away, both slightly breathless. 

"Mhm?" Mino murmured looking a tiny bit like he was seeing stars. 

"Maybe just a bit. I’ll like you even more if you help me upgrade my RAM" he replied teasingly, knowing full well that Mino knew that he was very capable of doing so himself and that it only was an excuse for him to stick around. 

"Sure sure, just let me have one more of those first" Mino said calmly. 

"Those what?" he asked, not catching on to what Mino was talking about. 

"Those lovely kisses" Mino said smugly, a playful grin spreading across his face as he said it. 

Laughing, Jinwoo leaned in for another kiss and then another. There were many more where those came from.

Many, many more. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> First time posting to AO3 so I'm sorry if the editing became a bit of a mess. Thank you for reading this story based on a prompt submitted to the ficfest earlier this summer. Prompter I hope you enjoyed my story!


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